Somalia Takes on Ethiopia in Zone 5 Challenge Cup Opening

The Somali National Handball women’s team will take on their Ethiopian counterpart on Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the zone 5 challenge cup hosted in Djibouti this year, Somali handball federation president Mohamed Hurshe Hassan revealed.

The president said that the Somali team has been undergoing daily exercises for the past three months and he is hopeful his girls will score victory during the week-long competition.

Somalia is in group A with Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan and will have its second game against Sudan on Monday according to the fixtures of the competition.

Although Islamists have banned playing sport in Somalia and in particular, women were told to remain at home, the Somali women are still active in sport and instead pledged to defend Somalia’s name at international sports gatherings.

The Somali handball women’s team left Mogadishu on Friday. The 2010 zone five challenge cup will continue in Djibouti from 1st to 6th of May.

Shafi’i Mohyaddin Abokar is the NewsBlaze Somalia reporter, an experienced journalist. Shafi’i writes news stories, features and sends photos relevant to the current situation in Somalia.Shafi’i is also an international sports journalist and member of the international sports press association AIPS.He is a long-time sports journalist and reported from many international competitions including the Olympic Games.The photo shows Shafi’i at London 2012 Olympic Park.